thefouramigosblog

The reunion was fantastic. There were lots of laughs and great food, and everybody started heading back home. Jay, Bethany, and the girls decided to stay, so we met up at Young’s Lobster Pound.

The girls decided not to come so it was just us adults. We each enjoyed a 1-1/2 lb lobster and I also had steamers.

The view from Young’s is great with all the sailboats and birds flying about.

We sat upstairs inside because we felt the sprinkle of rain. Only misting but who knew if it would lead to a downpour.

Since the rain held off, we decided to take a quick trip to Belfast for the Scottish Festival. We listened to the haunting Celtic music as we watched the Scottish games.

But within a few moments, the skies opened and the rain came down. Bruce, Bethany, and I went under a walkway to avoid the rain as Jay ran back to the car. Our hideaway had spaces between the boards so the rain came through anyway. There was a river of water and when we finally reached our car, we were soaked through.

We said our goodbyes to Jay and Bethany and headed back to Brewer.

Most of the roads were lonely with green trees and no inhabitants. But we occasionally ran across some interesting sites.

Last night I forgot to post the beautiful sunset over China Lake.

Now we are back at Michael’s until Wednesday when we head back home to Florida.

#maine#lobster#youngslobsterpound# belfast#scottishfestival#celticmusic#scottishgames#vacation#family

Bruce is now the patriarch of the Dunbar family. Bruce’s children, Ryan, Colin, Bethany, and Alyse, along with their spouses, our grandkids, and furry family members gathered at the McWade Camp on Sheepscot Pond. Kristy, Michael’s daughter, her spouse, and two of their children also joined the festivities.

We spent the day by the water or on the deck. Kristy’s son Garrett and Renee’s son Ray did a muscle pose.

Wyatt, Garrett, and Ray were enjoying the paddlenoards and swimming. For me it was a touch too cool. The air temp was around 80 degrees.

Alyse and Bethany were out in the kayak, while Renee and Sally were paddleboarding.

Bruce and Nate enjoyed chilling on the beach.

In years to come the children can reminisce about jumping off docks, swimming with dogs, and fishing for bass.

Jay grilled hamburgers and hot dogs while Bethany and Renee fixed up salads and set up the table. All was delicious.

Landon sat chilling in the living room enjoying a moment of quiet time.

The family gathered on the deck for conversation and eating.

It was a wonderful day filled with love and laughter and we are ever so grateful to Bethany and Jay hosting it.

Bruce and I hadn’t been to the McWade Camp since 2019. This picture shows just how much the grandkids have grown-up. That was the year of the tie-dyes shirts.

Hopefully, we can all meet up again before the grandkids are off to college or wherever they may go.

#family#maine#paddleboard#sheepscotpond#summer

Not to be confused with Palermo, Italy. Today was family day at the McWade Camp.

The weather was perfect. Aggie, Sally, and Keever the dogs were frolicking in the water.

All the kids seemed to take to the water and loved kayaking. I want to get one of those blow-up boards.

The kids are growing up so fast. I remember when the parents were 10, 12, and 14.

Tomorrow Bruce’s niece and her family will arrive as well as Bruce’s son Ryan and Amy.

But for tonight we headed back to our hotel to get a good night sleep.

Today we went to breakfast at Dysarts. I had one egg and one pancake. That was plenty. I forgot to take pictures of the pancake but we agreed that they aren’t as big as they used to be. That was good for me or I would eat it all.

There are a lot of interesting things around the restaurant.

Afterwards, we checked out Stephen King’s house. Notice the bats and spider webs on the fence? And the wooden statue is quite interesting. It was created by chainsaw artist Josh Landry from a dead ash tree. It features owls, ravens, cats, frogs, mushrooms, climbing vines, a dragon, and a corgi. 

My brother-in-law is a big collector. Here are a few of his cars.

We headed down to Ellsworth on a tour of Bruce and Michael’s ancestry. Our first stop was his maternal grandmother’s farm which had been in the family for over 150 years. Both brothers were sorry they didn’t buy it years ago.

Down the road away was a swimming hole where the boys would enjoy spending time during visits to the old farm.

We decided to visit their old camp, cottage to most people, on George’s Pond. It was sold several years ago but we sure miss our times there.

The walkway to the pond is overgrown. Apparently, the new owners don’t use it very much.

I looked in the window and the old GE refrigerator from 1953 was still there. Those old appliances keep on going!

We stopped by Fox Pond where I took a walk down to the water, enjoying the fragrant smell of pine.

We stopped at the Dunbar Store. No relation.

And our last stop was Ruth and Wimpy’s.

This was a cool little restaurant where I ate my second lobster.

And for dessert, I had a very berry cobbler and Bruce had a strawberry Rhubarb crisp! Yummy!

This was a really cute place with great prices and cool surroundings.

It was a fun-filled day eating our way Downeast!

#maine#downeast#roadtrip#vacation#dysarts#ruth&wimpys#lobster#stephenking#bangor#bats#joshlandry

The only airline I found with a nonstop flight to Bangor was Allegiant. It’s a no frills airline with tiny seats and not much legroom.

If you are on the larger side these seats just won’t do.

Michael picked us up at the airport, and we had lunch at Dysart’s. Dysart’s is at the truck stop, and Bruce had blueberry pancakes. I had a small salad and a bit of his pancakes.

We toured around the University of Maine where Bruce went to college. It’s located in Orono. The ball field was impressive but it looked as though they were adding on.

Bruce’s former fraternity house which he says was like Animal House, has seen better days.

And now for my favorite reason to go to Maine. Lobstah!

Number one at Pepper’s Landing in Old Town!

And to end the night a whoopie pie.

#maine#university#travel#lobster#allegiantairlines#bangor#pepperslanding#oldtown#orono#dysarts#whoopiepie

What a way to spend Father’s Day. A day at the beach with our 16-year-old granddaughter Kadyn.

The surfs up and Kadyn and PopPop went boogey boarding.

I spent most of the time on the lounge chair! The surf was a little too rough for me. But Pop Pop joined me as we watched the comings and goings at the beach.

So a very nice day at the beach.

Happy Father’s Day to my love and all the fathers out there!

I travel a lot – probably six months of the year give or take. But when I’m home, its like being on vacation.

Today I’m sitting on Delray Beach. We have a senior parking permit that lets us park on A1A and the beach lots. For one year it costs $101.25.

We also have an Oceanside Beach Service membership for a year. For $800, we can use an umbrella, two loungers, or a clamshell, which would generally cost $60 per day.

Delray Beach is known for its beautiful beaches. In fact, it was ranked the number one beach in Florida by USA Today.

The water is clear and you can see your feet in six feet of water. Sometimes it’s calm and sometimes there are waves. My husband loves to boogey board.

And the downtown area near the beach is great for restaurants and shopping. Whether you want seafood, Italian, or Thai, Atlantic Avenue has it all. It also has an impressive nightlife with great music and concerts at Old Schoolhouse Square.

#delraybeach#florida#vacation#parking#oceansidebeachservice#atlanticavenue#oldschoolhousesquare

I have to say this is one of my favorite ports. It’s friendly and offers lots of different adventures. Previously we explored the island with a really nice taxi driver. Last time we snorkeled with turtles at the Turtle Sanctuary. This time we snorkeled from a dive shop a short walk from the port.

There were tarpons in the water. They were three feet long so a little intimidating but they were shy. I didn’t get a photo in the water with them but if from the dock.

The Cayman Dive Shop offers boat trips out to an area where there is a sunken ship. They also have a submarine trip. But the guy was nice and just let us swim right off his dock.

I tried downloading the photos from my underwater camera but they would not download. We brought the wrong charger and the camera lost power. So trust me we saw an array of beautiful fish from angel fish, blue tang, triggerfish, parrotfish and a bunch of tarpon.

I will try to post them when I get home. But if you are on Grand Cayman and don’t want to do a tour and you have your snorkeling gear, check this place out!

#grandcayman#caymandiving#snorkeling#cruising

I know very little about Cozumel. I thought it was another beach town like Cancun but it’s actually an island.

We decided to take a ship tour, which we rarely do. It wasn’t costly and took us to some Mayan ruins and the beach.

Of course, it was a lot of people on the bus and we were in the last row!

The San Gervasio Mayan Ruins is where the Mayans worshipped the Goddess IXchel.

The area has six architectural sites and isolated temples connected by a network of white roads called “sacbés”

The roads no longer have the top layers which made them white but you can see from the underlying rock where they were.

This area was bought by a Spaniard who thought he would find gold. He used dynamite destroying many of the temples.

These ruins date back to 100 BCE.

Las Manitas or Little Hands are handprints in a structure built 1000 to 1200 AD. This was the residence of the Mayan ruler of Cozumel during the Terminal Classic Period. ^{You can still see these handprints even after hundreds of years.}

It was very hot at the ruins so our visit was only an hour long. Our next stop was a Mayan Bee Sanctuary where we received a Mayan blessing.

The beach resort unfortunately was not as I hoped. The ocean was rough and filled with sargassum seaweed.

The tour was fair but a little disappointing. I had hoped to swim in the ocean but it wasn’t doable.

Back at the ship, we went for a dip in the pool. It wasn’t too crowded since people were still off the ship.

Last night we saw the best show called Elements. It was beautiful.

We later tried our luck at the casino and had lots of fun!

#sangervasiomayanruins#civilizations#cozumel#tours#cruising#vacation#mayanbeesanctuary#casino#

We just got back from a month-long trip and cruise from Europe and are now heading out for a seven-day Caribbean cruise. We will be cruising on Celebrity Beyond, one of the newer ships.

Our ports of call are Perfect Day at CocoCay, Jamaica, Cozumel, and Grand Cayman. Cozumel is new for us.

We took Uber to the Port of Miami. The driver spoke no English and didn’t have the air conditioner turned on. Trying to communicate that he needed to turn it on was useless. So we arrived at the port sweaty and uncomfortable.

The Edge series ship is quite amazing. So different from any other ships we’ve been on.

We dined in Cyprus. I had my escargot and also a Greek platter with hummus and tzatziki.

Spencer James, a comedian, was the night’s entertainment. I couldn’t stop laughing.

We tried our luck in the casino, but everyone around us won except us! So off to bed.

I woke up to our coffee delivery and quickly made a call to the medical department. I forgot my thyroid medication which is critical. The medical did not look anything like it does on the show Doctor Odyssey! $175 to see the doctor and then a per-pill charge. I won’t know how much until tomorrow.

We worked out a little in the fitness center. I rode the bike for 20 minutes and Bruce did weights.

We went to the beach in Cococay, and it was very nice. We also had a little lunch. Food is free in most of the areas. The lounges and umbrellas are free as well! However, some areas do have a cover charge, and cabanas and beds cost quite a bit. We opted for free!

When we returned to the ship, we went into the pool. It wasn’t as crowded as on sea days. I try to avoid the pool on those days.

Last night’s show was a Production show. It was great and the theatre is very innovative with its technology which enhances the shows.

We ate dinner in Tuscany with two other couples. It was very nice. Celebrity doesn’t have a lot of sharing tables. It doesn’t seem to be their thing. When we are on Princess, we always share and get to meet a lot of people from all over the world.

Today I did some Tai Chi with a group of people on the pool deck and then a guided meditation followed.

We went to a Captain’s Circle event in Eden. Walking to that part of the ship was very interesting.

So far it’s been an excellent cruise. Tomorrow Cozumel!

#celebrity#beyond#edgeseries#spencerjames#perfectdayatcococay#escargot#vacation#cruise#ship#caribbean#taichi#sailing#uber